PIERRE, S.D. - South Dakota wildlife officials have decided that a growing pronghorn population justifies a slight increase in the number of hunting licenses available for the next two years.

The Pierre Capital Journal reports that the state's Game, Fish and Parks Commission decided Thursday it will issue resident hunters over 900 more buck-antelope hunting licenses and 1,400 more doe-antelope licenses in 2017 and 2018 than it did last year, when hunter success reached 70 percent.

The pronghorn is a U.S. land mammal known for its speed. They're unique to North America but are commonly called antelope because of their resemblance to the African animal.

Commission surveys say there'll be about 48,000 pronghorns in the state, part of a years-long population recovery. It's still about 10,000 short of the statewide-population objective.